Ushioshobokojinshinsha

Ushioshobokojinshinsha Co., Ltd. (株式会社潮書房光人新社) is a Japanese publishing house specializing in military history, war records, and naval and aviation nonfiction. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sankei Shimbun Publishing Inc. (株式会社産經新聞出版), which is itself the publishing arm of the Sankei Shimbun newspaper group. The company is headquartered on the 8th floor of the Tokyo Sankei Building in Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, sharing the address of its parent and of the Sankei Shimbun. The publisher's best-known property is the monthly magazine Maru (月刊『丸』), a long-running title devoted to military affairs, warships, aircraft, and wartime history. Alongside the magazine, the company publishes a steady stream of hardcover and paperback books, including the NF Bunko paperback label (originally launched as 光人社NF文庫, with NF standing for nonfiction) and the more recent Sankei NF Bunko label introduced in 2018 under the direction of the parent company. Its catalog covers subjects such as the Imperial Japanese Navy, the Pacific War, warship construction, army logistics, and biographies of military figures. The present company was established on November 1, 2017, when the former Ushioshobokojinshinsha (潮書房光人社) was split into an asset-management company and an operating company, with all shares of the operating company acquired by Sankei Shimbun Publishing. The operating company took the name Ushioshobokojinshinsha and continued the publishing business, while the asset-management entity was renamed Innocence and later dissolved. The company's roots, however, reach back much further: the monthly Maru was first launched in 1948 by the predecessor Rengo Press, and the Maru publishing operation was taken over in 1956. The affiliated publisher Kokujinsha was founded in 1966 to turn the war records and military histories collected by Ushioshobokojinshinsha into book form, and the two firms merged in 2012 to form Ushioshobokojinshinsha. Today the company operates as a niche but established publisher within Japan's military-history and nonfiction segment, selling through bookstores and online retailers such as Amazon, and offering digital editions of its titles. Its output is aimed at readers interested in Japanese and world military history, particularly the history of the Imperial Japanese Navy and Army, warships, and aircraft.

The history of Ushioshobokojinshinsha is closely tied to the monthly magazine Maru and to the postwar Japanese market for military history publishing. The magazine Maru was first launched in 1948 by a predecessor company, Rengo Press (聯合プレス, later Rengo Shuppansha / 聯合出版社). In April 1956, the publishing operation of Maru was taken over by Ushioshobokojinshinsha (潮書房), which in its early years published both the magazine and books. To concentrate on the magazine, the company eventually suspended its book publishing activities. In March 1966, Kokujinsha (光人社) was founded by, among others, Hajime Takagi (高城肇, 1928–2010), a former editor-in-chief of Maru. The purpose of the new company was to turn the war records and military histories that Ushioshobokojinshinsha had collected over roughly a decade into single-volume books. Kokujinsha went on to build a substantial catalog of military history titles. In December 1992 it launched the Kokujinsha NF Bunko paperback label (NF standing for nonfiction), which focused on war records, and in September 2002 it began the Kokujinsha Meisaku Senki series. On May 1, 2012, Ushioshobokojinshinsha (株式会社潮書房) and Kokujinsha (株式会社光人社) merged to form Ushioshobokojinshinsha (株式会社潮書房光人社), headquartered at 1-9-11 Kudankita, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo. A major restructuring followed in 2017. On October 18, 2017, it was announced that Ushioshobokojinshinsha would be split into an asset-management company and an operating company, and that all shares of the operating company would be acquired by Sankei Shimbun Publishing (産経新聞出版) effective November 1, 2017. The operating company was renamed Ushioshobokojinshinsha (潮書房光人新社) and continued the publishing business, moving its head office to the Tokyo Sankei Building in Otemachi, Tokyo, the same building as Sankei Shimbun Publishing and the Sankei Shimbun. The asset-management company, renamed Innocence (株式会社イノセンス), was dissolved on February 1, 2018, and completed liquidation on November 20 of the same year. Under the new structure, the parent company Sankei Shimbun Publishing led the creation of a new paperback label, Sankei NF Bunko (産経NF文庫), launched in July 2018. While the existing Kokujinsha NF Bunko label concentrated on war records, Sankei NF Bunko focused on nonfiction more broadly. The company continues to publish the monthly Maru and a regular flow of military history books, and it offers digital editions of its titles.

• 2018

  Asset-management company renamed Innocence dissolved February 1 and liquidated November 20; Sankei NF Bunko label launched in July.

• 2017

  Company split announced October 18; operating company acquired by Sankei Shimbun Publishing on November 1 and renamed Ushioshobokojinshinsha.

• 2012

  Ushioshobokojinshinsha and Kokujinsha merge on May 1 to form Ushioshobokojinshinsha.

• 2002

  Kokujinsha Meisaku Senki series launched in September.

• 1992

  Kokujinsha NF Bunko paperback label launched in December.

• 1966

  Kokujinsha founded in March by former Maru editor-in-chief Hajime Takagi and others to publish war records as books.

• 1956

  Ushioshobokojinshinsha takes over publication of Maru from the April issue.

• 1948

  Monthly magazine Maru first launched by predecessor Rengo Press.

Specialist publisher of military history and war nonfiction, operating as the publishing subsidiary of the Sankei Shimbun group.

• Monthly Maru (月刊『丸』)

• Kokujinsha NF Bunko (光人社NF文庫)

• Sankei NF Bunko (産経NF文庫)

• Kokujinsha Meisaku Senki (光人社名作戦記)

1. 1潮書房光人新社 公式サイトkojinsha.co.jp
2. 2会社概要 - 潮書房光人新社kojinsha.co.jp
3. 3個人情報保護・著作権・リンクに関して - 潮書房光人新社kojinsha.co.jp
4. 4Ushioshobokojinshinsha - Wikidatawikidata.org
5. 5潮書房光人新社 - Wikipediaja.wikipedia.org